“Mom always liked to do projects so we learned to do them with her,” Sharon Vreeman said. “We’ve always re-purposed and done that kind of thing.” In 2017, Sharon and her sisters Dianne Perry and Janell Kraut, known professionally as the Pfarkel Sisters, put that love of design into creating a she shed on Sharon’s property outside of Fountain. Much like a man cave, a she shed is a small building designed for women to relax and enjoy their hobbies in their own space. The sisters use theirs primarily for relaxing and storing new projects they’re working on.
The sisters turned an existing shed at Sharon’s into their she shed and decorated it with re-purposed finds in calming, neutral colors. Inside you can find seating, pillows, and even a trundle bed which came in handy when Sharon and her husband were remodeling their home last year. Dianne and Janell were also able to sleep in the she shed when they stayed with Sharon to help get ready for their annual sale.
The idea for the she shed originally came from a friend of theirs, Sue Whitney. Sue, formerly of Lanesboro, is the author of the Junk Beautiful series and was planning a new book, Junk Beautiful: She Sheds. She reached out to them and asked if they were interested in creating a she shed to be featured in her upcoming book. The sisters thought it was the perfect idea.
“We actually didn’t do a whole lot to the shed,” Sharon explained. They did install windows as the shed didn’t have any, but for the most part, their efforts were focused on cleaning the shed up and decorating it. They were under a deadline to get the shed done because the book photographer was already booked to come do a photo shoot. Despite the pressure, they pulled it off. “It was fun,” Sharon laughed. Sue’s book came out last fall and is available online.
Since the she shed was completed, the sisters have enjoyed spending time in it. “We’ve made use of the she shed,” Sharon said. “It’s a good little spot.” The sisters don’t spend too much time relaxing, however. They also stay busy working on re-purposing projects for their business, Junk {Re}defined. Although they’ve been creative for most of their lives, they didn’t start Junk {Re}defined until 2000. They used to participate as vendors in various shows such as Junk Bonanza, but in the last few years, decided not to do so anymore. “It became lots of work and then you have to stay overnight three or four nights, and there’s the set-up and the take-down,” Sharon explained. Not willing to give it up completely, the Pfarkel Sisters decided to hold an annual sale at Sharon’s property with all of the projects they worked on over the year. The sales are held in the fall with this year’s taking place on September 13 and 14. Those sales draw a crowd of between 200-300 people from all over the tri-state area and the sisters are usually just about sold out by the end. “We do fairly well,” Sharon remarked. Many of their visitors are repeat customers who then bring their friends along.
The sisters have no plans to quit their business any time soon. “We’ll just slow down,” Sharon laughed. “Or maybe the projects won’t be quite so big so they’re easier to handle.” Sharon, Dianne, and Janell continue to scour garage sales, auctions, estate sales, and even dumpsters for materials they can re-purpose into something new. “It’s a whole recycling process,” Sharon commented.
In addition to their annual sales, the Pfarkel Sisters also do limited custom orders on request.
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